


The Strongest

by canufeelthemagictonight



Category: Escape the Night (Web Series), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: (maybe), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Ass-Kicking, Awesome, Badass Manny, Character Death Fix, Demonic Possession, Depowered Strong Man, Fights, Fix-It, Friendship, Gen, Heroism, Hope, Hurt/Comfort, Matt lives, Minor Character Death, Possible Corruption?, Rescue, Strength, Transformation, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-04
Updated: 2018-10-04
Packaged: 2019-07-24 18:37:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16180862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canufeelthemagictonight/pseuds/canufeelthemagictonight
Summary: A new Strong Man must be found.That's what the note for the Episode 5 challenge claimed. What if that note was meant to be takencompletelyliterally?An Escape the Night AU.





	The Strongest

**Author's Note:**

> I blame this entire story on a late-night conversation I had with a friend. You know who you are.

Manny's just defeated Matt. Joey regrets his decision to vote the Detective into this fight to the death, but it's too late now. They're about to lose one of their most valuable players to a bully with a mutant arm.

He can't watch.

"You ready to die?" the Strong Man bellows at a clearly terrified Matt. "You're gonna die!" 

Manny runs to get the leather band.

"Look for the coin!" Matt screams.

The Strong Man lunges for Matt's throat. Joey prepares to run.

And then, Manny touches the band, and the air explodes in red light. Everyone screams. Shouts of "Jesus!" and "What the hell?" can be heard from the shocked YouTubers. Joey can't see a thing, so he has no idea what's going on. He's not sure he _wants_ to know.

When everything returns to its normal colors, Matt is still standing, unharmed, and the Strong Man is gazing at his depowered arm with a look of devastation on his face. "No!" He shakes it around, as if that'll bring his muscles back. "This can't be happening! I'm the strongest! _I'm the strongest!"_

"Matt!" Rosanna runs out of the crowd and throws her arms around her best friend. "Omigod, Matt! You're okay!"

"Ro," sobs Matt, hugging her back.

 _Oh, thank God._ Joey breathes a sigh of relief. _This is like the circus challenge. No one has to die._

Nikita looks past the Matt-Rosanna reunion and notices something concerning. "Manny?" she gasps. "Manny, what's wrong?"

The Record Producer leans against the glass case, breathing heavily, his eyes closed, his hands seemingly glued to the leather band. As his friends yell his name, a final burst of red smoke emerges and hits him square in the center of his head. He cries out, then collapses to the ground.

"Oh, no," Colleen moans. "Is he dead?"

"Manny, say something!" pleads Rosanna.

"Manny!" Nikita shoves her way to her best friend's side. She shakes his shoulders, but he's not responding. "Manny, I swear to God, you _better_ not die on me, or I'm gonna kick your ass! _Manny!"_

The Strong Man is still trying to restore strength to his arm. Veronica goes to help him, rolling her eyes at her man's idiocy.

Joey sighs. This is what he gets for having hope. He should've learned a long time ago that miracles don't exist. "Guys, I think he's gone. We should go back to the lounge and cleanse the artifact before it's—"

He's interrupted by a familiar roar.

Nikita yelps and jumps away. Manny rumbles to his feet, a host of new, larger muscles bulging through his now-too-small white shirt. He's taller, brawnier, sturdier, and _clearly_ more dangerous than he was before he touched the band. "It's over, Wilmer," he snarls in a voice that does _not_ sound like his. _"I'm_ the Strong Man now."

"Impossible..." the former Strong Man murmurs.

Safiya is the first to understand. _"To recover the leather band, a new Strong Man must be found,"_ she whispers.

"We did what it asked," realizes Matt. "We found a new Strong Man."

Joey is thunderstruck.

Wilmer (since that's the old Strong Man's name, apparently, though Joey has no idea how Manny knew that) screeches with anger and throws himself at Manny. The resulting fight is no fight at all. Manny clocks Wilmer over the head, and Wilmer collapses into unconciousness.

"Holy shit!" shouts Colleen.

Veronica tries to come to Wilmer's aid, but Nikita darts forward and slaps her across the face. Veronica, who seems to be just as weak as her boyfriend now, staggers backwards, her mouth open with traumatized surprise.

"That's for wearing the same shoes as me!" Nikita spits at her.

While this is going on, Manny places a foot on Wilmer's lifeless chest and presses down. "You're not gonna hurt us anymore!"

"Guys, we should go," squeaks Matt. "We _really_ should go."

Joey doesn't need to be told twice. He sprints back to the lounge, as do Matt, Rosanna, Colleen, Safiya, Mortimer, Calliope, and even Nikita. _No one died,_ thinks Joey as he runs, _but is Manny_ really _okay? Is he the same guy he was before? Or is he just like Wilmer?_

Once they're in the lounge, Safiya takes charge. "Who has the band? Did anyone get the band?"

"I have it," says Calliope. "I'll do what must be done."

"Calliope!" screams Nikita. She sounds like she wants to tell her something, but before she gets the chance, Calliope cleanses the artifact.

Matt collapses against the nearest couch. "Four down," he mutters. "Four to go."

"Wait!" Nikita looks furious and terrified at the same time. "Since Manny's the Strong Man now, and the guardian dies when the artifact is cleansed, does that mean..." She rounds on Calliope. _"Did you just kill Manny?!?"_

Calliope frowns. "I...don't know..."

"Nikita, calm down," warns Safiya.

But Nikita is already out the door. Joey and Matt go after her, partly to make sure she stays safe, but mostly to get some answers about Manny's fate.

They find him above a cloud of smoke, staring at his hands as if they're lethal weapons. He doesn't notice their approach until Nikita calls his name, and then, he raises his head. His pretty face is the only recognizable thing about him left.

"Oh, thank God," breathes Nikita. "Are you okay?"

Manny shakes his head. "I think I killed him." His voice, at least, is back to normal. "I don't know why I did that. It just...happened..."

"He was an asshole, anyway," Nikita scoffs.

"I know," says Manny. "But I _killed_ someone. And now I'm like this, and it's _kinda_ cool, but how the hell am I gonna explain it to everyone at home?"

"Just tell them you've been hitting the gym a lot," jokes Joey.

"Look on the bright side," is Matt's advice. "You're _definitely_ the strongest one here now." His face softens with gratitude. "Thank you, by the way. For saving my life."

Manny turns bright red. "You're welcome. Anytime."

"Who knows?" muses Nikita. "Maybe now, we'll be able to fight off the monsters. Maybe no one else has to die." She smiles gently. It's a side of her that Joey's never seen before, and he wonders where _this_ version of Nikita has been all night.

"That would be nice," Matt agrees.

Manny nods. "Yeah. It would." He still seems upset about what happened, but he's wearing a brave face that Joey knows all too well.

Nikita offers him her hand. "Come on, Strong Man," she says. "We got a _lot_ more artifacts to cleanse."

So Manny takes her hand, being careful not to snap her arm in half, and the four YouTubers leave for the lounge, where their friends are waiting for them. None of them notice the darkness that spirals around the entrance to the bridge. None of them hear the deep, menacing laughter from within an amber prison.

_"You fools. You have **no idea** what you've done."_

**Author's Note:**

> Well, it's not despair this time, so...


End file.
